James Hutton

James Hutton (3 June 1726-26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, physician, chemical manufacturer, naturalist, and experimental agriculturalist who was known as the "Father of Modern Geology".

Biography
James Hutton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1726, and he became a physician's assistant at the age of 18 after graduating from the University of Edinburgh. During the 1750s, he began to study farming, meteorology, and geology, and he originated the theory of uniformitarianism, which explained the features of Earth's crust by means of natural processes over geologic time. He also believed that the Earth was perpetually being formed, and stated that erosion and sedimentation played a key role in the changes. He died in Edinburgh in 1797 at the age of 70.